_Letter, Dr. Seward to Hon. Arthur Holmwood._
"_3 September._
"My dear Art,--
"Van Helsing has come and gone. He came on with me to Hillingham, andfound that, by Lucy's discretion, her mother was lunching out, so thatwe were alone with her. Van Helsing made a very careful examinationof the patient. He is to report to me, and I shall advise you, for ofcourse I was not present all the time. He is, I fear, much concerned,but says he must think. When I told him of our friendship and how youtrust to me in the matter, he said: 'You must tell him all you think.Tell him what I think, if you can guess it, if you will. Nay, I am notjesting. This is no jest, but life and death, perhaps more.' I askedwhat he meant by that, for he was very serious. This was when we hadcome back to town, and he was having a cup of tea before starting on hisreturn to Amsterdam. He would not give me any further clue. You mustnot be angry with him, Art, because his very reticence means that allhis brains are working for her good. He will speak plainly enough whenthe time comes, be sure. So I told him I would simply write an accountof our visit, just as if I were doing a descriptive special article for_The Daily Telegraph_. He seemed not to notice, but remarked that thesmuts in London were not quite so bad as they used to be when he was astudent here. I am to get his report to-morrow if he can possibly makeit. In any case I am to have a letter.
"Well, as to the visit. Lucy was more cheerful than on the day I firstsaw her, and certainly looked better. She had lost something of theghastly look that so upset you, and her breathing was normal. She wasvery sweet to the Professor (as she always is), and tried to make himfeel at ease; though I could see that the poor girl was making a hardstruggle for it. I believe Van Helsing saw it, too, for I saw the quicklook under his bushy brows that I knew of old. Then he began to chatof all things except ourselves and diseases, and with such an infinitegeniality that I could see poor Lucy's pretence of animation merge intoreality. Then, without any seeming change, he brought the conversationgently round to his visit, and suavely said:--
"'My dear young miss, I have the so great pleasure because you are muchbeloved. That is much, my dear, even were there that which I do notsee. They told me you were down in the spirit, and that you were of aghastly pale. To them I say: "Pouf!"' And he snapped his fingers at meand went on: 'But you and I shall show them how wrong they are. Howcan he'--and he pointed at me with the same look and gesture as thatwith which once he pointed me out to his class, on, or rather after,a particular occasion which he never fails to remind me of--'knowanything of a young ladies? He has his madmans to play with, and tobring them back to happiness and to those that love them. It is muchto do, and, oh, but there are rewards, in that we can bestow suchhappiness. But the young ladies! He has no wife nor daughter, and theyoung do not tell themselves to the young, but to the old, like me,who have known so many sorrows and the causes of them. So, my dear, wewill send him away to smoke the cigarette in the garden, whiles you andI have little talk all to ourselves.' I took the hint, and strolledabout, and presently the Professor came to the window and called mein. He looked grave, but said: 'I have made careful examination, butthere is no functional cause. With you I agree that there has been muchblood lost; it has been, but is not. But the conditions of her are inno way anaemic. I have asked her to send me her maid, that I may askedjust one or two questions, that so I may not chance to miss nothing. Iknow well what she will say. And yet there is cause; there is alwayscause for everything. I must go back home and think. You must send tome the telegram every day; and if there be cause I shall come again.The disease--for not to be all well is a disease--interest me, and thesweet young dear, she interest me too. She charm me, and for her, ifnot for you or disease, I come.'
"As I tell you, he would not say a word more, even when we were alone.And so now, Art, you know all I know. I shall keep stern watch. I trustyour poor father is rallying. It must be a terrible thing to you, mydear old fellow, to be placed in such a position between two people whoare both so dear to you. I know your idea of duty to your father, andyou are right to stick to it; but, if need be, I shall send you word tocome at once to Lucy; so do not be over-anxious unless you hear fromme."
_Dr. Seward's Diary._
_4 September._--Zoophagous patient still keeps up our interest in him.He had only one outburst, and that was yesterday at an unusual time.Just before the stroke of noon he began to grow restless. The attendantknew the symptoms, and at once summoned aid. Fortunately the men cameat a run, and were just in time, for at the stroke of noon he becameso violent that it took all their strength to hold him. In about fiveminutes, however, he began to get more and more quiet, and finally sankinto a sort of melancholy, in which state he has remained up to now.The attendant tells me that his screams whilst in the paroxysm werereally appalling; I found my hands full when I got in, attending to someof the other patients who were frightened by him. Indeed, I can quiteunderstand the effect, for the sounds disturbed even me, though I wassome distance away. It is now after the dinner-hour of the asylum,and as yet my patient sits in a corn
er brooding, with a dull, sullen,woe-begone look in his face, which seems rather to indicate than to showsomething directly. I cannot quite understand it.
_Later._--Another change in my patient. At five o'clock I looked inon him, and found him seemingly as happy and contented as he used tobe. He was catching flies and eating them, and was keeping note of hiscapture by making nail-marks on the edge of the door between the ridgesof padding. When he saw me, he came over and apologised for his badconduct, and asked me in a very humble, cringing way to be let backto his own room and to have his note-book again. I thought it well tohumour him; so he is back in his room, with the window open. He has thesugar of his tea spread out on the windowsill, and is reaping quite aharvest of flies. He is not now eating them, but putting them in a box,as of old, and is already examining the corners of his room to find aspider. I tried to get him to talk about the past few days, for any clueof his thoughts would be of immense help to me; but he would not rise.For a moment or two he looked very sad, and said in a sort of far-awayvoice, as though saying it rather to himself than to me:--
"All over! all over! He has deserted me. No hope for me now unless I doit for myself!" Then suddenly turning to me in a resolute way, he said:"Doctor, won't you be very good to me and let me have a little moresugar? I think it would be good for me."
"And the flies?" I said.
"Yes! The flies like it, too, and I like the flies; therefore I likeit." And there are people who know so little as to think that madmen donot argue. I procured him a double supply, and left him as happy a manas, I suppose, any in the world. I wish I could fathom his mind.
_Midnight._--Another change in him. I had been to see Miss Westenra,whom I found much better, and had just returned, and was standing atour own gate looking at the sunset, when once more I heard him yelling.As his room is on this side of the house, I could hear it better thanin the morning. It was a shock to me to turn from the wonderful smokybeauty of a sunset over London, with its lurid lights and inky shadowsand all the marvellous tints that come on foul clouds even as on foulwater, and to realise all the grim sternness of my own cold stonebuilding, with its wealth of breathing misery, and my own desolate heartto endure it all. I reached him just as the sun was going down, and fromhis window saw the red disc sink. As it sank he became less and lessfrenzied; and just as it dipped he slid from the hands that held him, aninert mass, on the floor. It is wonderful, however, what intellectualrecuperative power lunatics have, for within a few minutes he stood upquite calmly and looked around him. I signalled to the attendants not tohold him, for I was anxious to see what he would do. He went straightover to the window and brushed out the crumbs of sugar; then he took hisfly-box and emptied it outside, and threw away the box; then he shut thewindow, and crossing over, sat down on his bed. All this surprised me,so I asked him: "Are you not going to keep flies any more?"
"No," said he; "I am sick of all that rubbish!" He certainly is awonderfully interesting study. I wish I could get some glimpse of hismind or of the cause of his sudden passion. Stop; there may be a clueafter all, if we can find why to-day his paroxysms came on at high noonand at sunset. Can it be that there is a malign influence of the sun atperiods which affects certain natures--as at times the moon does others?We shall see.
_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam_
"_4 September._--Patient still better to-day."
_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam_
"_5 September._--Patient greatly improved. Good appetite; sleepsnaturally; good spirits, colour coming back."
_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam_
"_6 September._--Terrible change for the worse. Come at once; do notlose an hour. I hold over telegram to Holmwood till have seen you."
CHAPTER X.
_Letter, Dr. Seward to Hon. Arthur Holmwood._
"_6 September._
"My dear Art,--
"My news to-day is not so good. Lucy this morning had gone back abit. There is, however, one good thing which has arisen from it: Mrs.Westenra was naturally anxious concerning Lucy, and has consultedme professionally about her. I took advantage of the opportunity,and told her that my old master, Van Helsing, the great specialist,was coming to stay with me, and that I would put her in his chargeconjointly with myself; so now we can come and go without alarmingher unduly, for a shock to her would mean sudden death, and this, inLucy's weak condition, might be disastrous to her. We are hedged in withdifficulties, all of us, my poor old fellow; but please God, we shallcome through them all right. If any need I shall write, so that, if youdo not hear from me, take it for granted that I am simply waiting fornews. In haste,
"Yours ever, "/John Seward./"
_Dr. Seward's Diary._
_7 September._--The first thing Van Helsing said to me when we met atLiverpool Street was:--